Reform take control of Lincolnshire County Council
It's another success for the party in the local elections
Last updated 2nd May 2025
Reform UK has secured a majority of Lincolnshire County Council, following a “clean sweep” of all the seats across East Lindsey.
Candidates from Nigel Farage’s party are celebrating a huge win across Lincolnshire, taking a total of 44 seats, with only 36 needed to secure their majority.
Before the elections on May 1, the district was represented by 12 Conservatives and one Independent. Independent councillor Sarah Parkin, who represented Louth South, chose not to seek re-election this year.
This year, the Conservatives have lost 40 seats in the county, now holding just 14.
There were small changes for the other parties: with Labour losing one seat; The South Holland Independents losing 3 seats; and the Liberal Democrats gaining just 2.
Among the defeated Conservatives were Patricia Bradwell, deputy leader of the county council; Colin Davie, portfolio holder for environment, economic development and planning; Wendy Bowkett, portfolio holder for adult care and public health; and Daniel McNally, portfolio holder for waste and trading standards.
Sean Matthews, chair of the Louth and Horncastle Reform UK branch and now councillor for Tattershall Castle, said the Conservatives are going to be “absolutely beside themselves tonight.”
“I just can’t get over the fact that we’ve had a clean sweep of all the East Lindsey seats,” he said.
“I’ll be honest, they the Conservatives were fair and they were coming up to us early on and saying what they thought was going to happen. But they were saying, ‘the hard work starts now. You need to find jobs for everybody’.
“Out of us here, there really are no experienced councillors, and so we’re going to rely on the county council to get us up to speed as quickly as possible. I just can’t wait to get started on the real work, which is bringing Lincolnshire back into fiscally sound policies and trying to make it a better place for all the people that live here.”
Coun Matthews has already shown an interest in becoming the leader of the Lincolnshire Reform UK group, and potentially the next leader of the council – but noted that a few other candidates are also interested.
“We’ll have a vote and make a decision in the next few days, and hopefully I’ll be speaking to you in a very different capacity soon,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Services.